


Ode to Divorce

by GQD, Synekdokee



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, M/M, actual divorce, divorce fic, non-powered, seriously tho written for maximum hurty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 18:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/903619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GQD/pseuds/GQD, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synekdokee/pseuds/Synekdokee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were both present at the courthouse, seated at separate desks as they listened to the judge grant them divorce.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ode to Divorce

**Author's Note:**

> Art by my King-Q AKA GQD AKA Garnetquyen who I roped into a collab to collectively make everyone in the fandom sad. I may have promised a sequel with a less miserable ending, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

They were both present at the courthouse, seated at separate desks as they listened to the judge grant them divorce. Charles looked miserable, hunched in on himself and eyes cast down, ignoring his attorney’s whispers. Erik couldn’t bear to look at him, tried to remind himself of the anger that had been harder and harder to justify the closer to the court date they got.  
  
The moment the judge was finished, Charles pushed himself up and rushed out the door, not even stopping to listen to what his lawyer had to say. Erik looked after him, the ache in his chest growing into a sharp, stabbing pain. He shook off his own lawyer’s offered handshake and headed after Charles, through the atrium and out into the bright sunlight.

 

Charles was standing at the bottom of the stairs, facing the busy street. He was talking to Raven and his back was one tense line, a painfully familiar solid wall that Erik had grown to know during their final months together, after Charles had stopped trying and Erik had stopped giving him reasons to.

  
Erik didn’t want his last image of Charles to be him facing away from Erik, body strung tight from the pain Erik had caused him. He descended the steps slowly, his heart sore from guilt and misplaced hope.  
  
Raven spotted him before he reached them. Erik saw her curse as she circled around Charles, placing herself between them in a defiant stance. Charles turned, confused, his blue eyes widening when he saw Erik, before the familiar hurt settled on his face.  
  
“What do you want?” Raven snapped, eyes blazing like one wrong move from Erik would set her on him. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough damage here?”  
  
“I have nothing to say to you,” Erik growled, resisting the urge to shove her away. “Charles is an adult, if I have something to say to him I don’t need a goddamn messenger.”  
  
“What do you want, Erik?” Charles voice was soft and low, steady. His face could have been carved from stone, and Erik mourned for the time when one look from Erik could light that face up in a smile.  
  
Erik stepped closer to Charles, suddenly feeling nervous. His heart pounded and suddenly, unbidden, a thought rose up, like a clear bubble in the black tar of Erik’s anger, that maybe Erik could still save this, maybe it didn’t have to end like this.  
  
“Charles…” He licked his lips, dipped his head low until he was almost close enough to kiss Charles.  
  
“Charles, I’m sorry, I am so sorry-“

“Sorry for what?”  
  
Erik blinked. “I-“

“Which part are you sorry for?” Charles hissed, his voice cold and hard, his eyes full of anger, devoid of any warmth they had once held when he looked at Erik. “Are you sorry for betraying my trust? Sorry for leaving me? Are you sorry you broke my heart-“ his voice cracked along with Erik’s heart, and he swallowed hard before continuing, steady and emotionless. “Or are you sorry you married me in the first place?”

  
Erik’s chest felt tight, too small for his lungs to breathe. He’d never meant… His hand rose, almost of its own accord, to brush at Charles’s cheek as he croaked out, “I never wanted to hurt you.”  
  
The slap rang out in the street, the force of it hard enough to snap Erik’s head to the side, pain stabbing at his cheek as he brought his hand to cradle it. He turned to look at Charles whose cheeks were now flushed red, his eyes wide, face contorted in anger Erik had never seen on him before.  
  
“Then you should’ve tried harder,” Charles snarled, before shoving past Erik, making him stumble.

 

 

 

 

  
Erik stared after Charles as he strode away with Raven, aching for him to turn back just one more time, to look at Erik and see that he still –

 

Charles didn’t look back.


End file.
